Joshua – Lesson 27

Gilgal, A Place of Repudiation

The beachhead at Gilgal became a place where Israel repudiated the old life that was left over from Egypt. Circumcision had long been neglected by the Israelites while they were wandering in the desert. But this was a sign that God had given to them as a symbol of separation. The New Testament analogy to circumcision is separation from the world system. Paul said:

· Galatians 6:14, May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

The cross is the dividing line between the Christian and the world. When a person is on a cross he is inactive with regard to things of the world. And the world can do nothing about it or to him. This was Paul’s attitude.

· Galatians 6:15-16, Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.

So the New Testament significance of circumcision is that we have been separated from the world by the cross. This is made clear in:

· Romans 8:13, For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Just as circumcision was a sign of separation, even so the Christian, is through the Holy Spirit, to live a separated life.

Paul continued with this line of thought.

· Galatians 5:16-17, So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

With respect to our spiritual position before God, we have been separated from the world by the cross. Now it is our responsibility to endeavor by the power of the Holy Spirit to make this position a reality in our earthly life.

So far as Israel was concerned there was no inheritance to them until they were circumcised.

· Genesis 17:9-11, Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.

Now do you see the connection? Here are the Israelites on the verge of claiming the Promised Land that was promised as their inheritance. But hundreds of years earlier God had made a covenant with Abraham that He would give the land to his descendants but that the people’s part of the bargain was that every male was to be circumcised. That accounts for the delay in taking action as soon as they had crossed the Jordan. For us, the old nature, the flesh, has been rendered impotent by Jesus’ death on the cross, but we need to make this a reality in our everyday lives by faith.

There is often a great difference between our spiritual standing and our spiritual state. The one is our position before God and the other is our experience on earth. It is God’s purpose that we become in our experience what we are before Him in our position. It is here that we find the whole basis of true Christian life.

We should die because we have died. We should live because we are alive. We should conquer because we have already won. All of this is by faith In Jesus.

Weakness of the Flesh

The rite of circumcision was a testimony to the weakness of the flesh. So instead of acting on the basis of the momentum of the crossing experience, the Israelites became weak for at least three days following this service of circumcision.

At this point they were vulnerable to an enemy attack; but God saw to it that the Canaanites had no knowledge of their weakness.

The lesson for us here is simple: we cannot be strong in God until we are weak in ourselves.

· Romans 7:18-19, I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.

And on another occasion Paul had three times pleaded with God to remove his “thorn in the flesh”:

· 2 Corinthians 12:9, But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Gilgal, a Place of Renewal

So the Israelites have camped at Gilgal. Gilgal is not only a place where the flesh is repudiated, as in circumcision, but was a place of renewal.

· Joshua 5:10, On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.

They landed on the Jericho side of the river on the tenth day of the first month and on the fourteenth day of the month they celebrated the Passover. This is interesting because only twice before had they celebrated the Passover. The first time was in Egypt and the second time was at Mount Sinai. They had neglected over and over again to remember what God had done for them in Egypt.

Now, on the Canaanite side of the Jordan, the Israelites were face with the danger of going to war with the Canaanites.

· Psalm 23:4, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

So there was comfort in their deliverance.

How applicable are the words of the next verse,

· Psalm 23:5, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Another important matter associated with Israel at Gilgal was the change in their food. They had been fed for forty years by God in the desert on the manna.

· Joshua 5:11-12, The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.

This change in food was an essential change as we can see in closely examining the matter.

The people renewed their separation by being circumcised and they renewed their relationship by celebrating the Passover. Egypt with its bondage was behind them; the Red Sea crossing was behind them; the desert wandering was behind them; the Jordan crossing was behind them; and they were now ready to conquer Canaan.

A new kind of food was necessary as Israel went against her enemies. In the language of the New Testament regarding believers, they were passing from the milk stage to the meat stage. Manna had been a constant miracle but there was a time for it to cease.

Manna is a type of Jesus in His humiliation, as He gave Himself so that the believer might have life. There are many baby Christians who never get beyond the milk stage. In speaking to His disciples, Jesus said:

· John 6:48-51, I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Eating of the manna is equivalent to knowing Jesus only in the flesh, but there is more to total redemption than this. This is a diet of milk only.

Paul had more to say on this matter.

· 2 Corinthians 5:16, So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

And in other writings to the Corinthians Paul had this to say:

· 2 Corinthians 13:4, For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you.

Again from Paul

· 1 Corinthians 3:1-4, Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

The morning after Israel had partaken of the Passover and were ready to go into battle, they ate corn from the land. The manna ceased the next day. The manna came down, but the corn came up. Now that is not just a clever saying.

Manna came down from heaven, speaking of Jesus coming down from heaven. The corn came up out of the ground after the kernel of corn was dead, the new corn speaking of the risen Jesus. Remember that Jesus said that except a grain of wheat die it abides alone. Jesus had died and was raised from the dead and we have died with Him, so the second aspect of His work is now the risen, victorious Jesus; and we, as we learn to know Him in this position, go on from victory to victory. The corn of the land is Jesus apprehended not only as having died, which is past and foundational, but Jesus apprehended as risen, glorified and seated in the heavenlies.

The conflict ahead of the people of Israel called for food with a germ of life in it. Manna was heavenly food fitted for people in the wilderness; but the corn of the land speaks of the risen Jesus, the living bread for the life of victory.

If this seems difficult to understand, it was difficult for the disciples to understand as well. In order to help them understand, Jesus said in:

· John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

He was not only going to give His life for their sins, but as believers they would find Him as the living One.

· John 6:53, Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Failure to understand the figurative language He is using here can cause a great deal of confusion. So He continues in the same vein.

· John 6:56-58, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."